Turkey has detained 402 people in the past 42 days for allegedly sharing “false and provocative” social media postings concerning the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Monday.
An Interior Ministry statement said officials have inspected more than 6,000 social media accounts and the 402 suspects were among a total of 855 account-holders sought by authorities for sharing posts deemed to be “provocative.”
A ministry official said the social media users were detained for allegedly attempting to “cause panic” over the coronavirus pandemic with posts that, among other things, accuse the government of not doing enough to curb the outbreak or of lying about the numbers of deaths or infections.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.
Turkey's confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by 2,131 in the past 24 hours, and 95 more people have died taking the death toll to 2,900, Health Ministry data showed on Monday.
The total number of cases in the country stood at 112,261, the data showed, the highest total for any country outside Western Europe or the United States.
A total of 33,791 people have so far recovered from the new coronavirus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19. The number of tests carried out in the past 24 hours was 20,143.
Nearly 890,000 people have been tested in Turkey so far.
Meanwhile, Turkey dispatched an air ambulance and repatriated a Turkish citizen who tested positive for the coronavirus in Sweden but allegedly failed to receive any treatment there.
Emrullah Gulusken, 47, was evacuated from his home in Malmo on Sunday after his daughter, Leyla, pleaded for help on social media. She said her father was sent back home despite his worsening condition, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Gulusken and his three of his children were flown to Ankara where they were hospitalized, the agency reported. Swedish authorities haven’t commented on the case.
Turkey has repatriated around 40,000 nationals from 75 countries since the start of the outbreak in March, according to Foreign Ministry figures.
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